Passadumkeag that is. And hardly a party, but hopefully a turning point.

 

Exercise your rights as a citizen and be present at the DEP Public Meeting in Greenbush on Thursday, July 12 from 7-9 PM.

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Proposed Wind Power Project Second Public Meeting A Maine DEP First

June 28, 2012
Environmental Protection

Samantha DePoy-Warren, Maine DEP Director of Communications samantha.depoy-warren@maine.gov / (207) 287-5842

-The Passadumkeag Wind project is the first to go to a second public meeting under a new grid scale wind review process enacted by current DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, who will attend the meeting, to ensure more robust public participation-

GREENBUSH – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting on Thursday, July 12 to get feedback on its draft analysis regarding a proposed 14-turbine, 42-megawatt wind farm atop Passadumkeag Ridge in Grand Falls Township.

The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Greenbush Town Office on 132 Military Road and will be attended by several DEP representatives, including Commissioner Patricia Aho, project manager Jim Beyer and other staff and contractors involved with the agency’s review of the project’s Site Law and Natural Resources Protection Act permit applications, including the department’s noise and visual consultants.

While this is the second public meeting on the project, it’s the first time the department has held two public meetings on an application to the agency as part of a new internal review process established by Commissioner Aho last year that requires two public meetings be held on all proposed grid scale wind power projects in Maine.

Developed to ensure adequate opportunity for public comment and a transparent, inclusive review of often controversial wind power projects, the new process also requires the presence of the department’s Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner at that second meeting to hear the public’s comments on DEP’s draft analysis, which for the Passadumkeag proposal, will be available one week prior to the meeting at http://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/WindPowerProjectFiles/Passadumkeag/

Following these second meetings, the additional comments and information heard there will be considered before a final decision is issued by the department.

As part of the application from Passadumkeag Wind Park, LLC, the proposed Passadumkeag Wind Project would include upgrading approximately 17.5 miles of existing transmission line and constructing approximately 1.5 miles of new roads for construction of and access to the project as well as a substation and an operations and maintenance building in Greenbush. The turbine portion of the project is located entirely within property currently used for commercial forestry operations and transmission lines will follow existing roads for all of the distance from the 459-foot tall turbines to the transformer.

Applications and supporting documentation for the project, which was accepted as complete for processing by the department in late February, are available at DEP’s Eastern Maine Regional Office during normal working hours or online at http://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/WindPowerProjectFiles/Passadumkeag/ as well as at the municipal office in Greenbush.

Written public comments on the application may be sent to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 106 Hogan Road, Suite 106, Bangor, ME 04401.

-END-

http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Portal+News&...

80% of life is just showing up. Showing up with a handmade sign, a solemn sense of duty and the truth at your back gets you closer to 95%.

 

Sample distances to Greenbush:

 23 miles - Bangor 
   
 24 miles - Lincoln

 41 miles - Frankfort

 48 miles - Ellsworth

 56 miles - Eastbrook

 64 miles - Freedom

 74 miles - Island Falls

 74 miles - Skowhegan

 78 miles - Camden

 86 miles - Rockland

106 miles - Wilton

126 miles - Mars Hill

128 miles - Rumford

151 miles - Portland

For long distance travelers, there would certainly be motels in Bangor if not closer. Greenbush is not that far from Acadia, Baxter Park and lots of other amazing places so it would be easy enough to amortize the driving and lodging expense with a little R&R on adjacent days.

 

Directions from the South

Directions from the North

 

Location:
Greenbush Town Office
132 Military Road
(see DeLorme map #33, C4)

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Comment by alice mckay barnett on July 2, 2012 at 7:49pm

I have 6 sound modeling maps on 3 tri-folds....each map shows 35-45 dBA at one mile.

Saddleback Ridge Wind  2.75

Canton Mountain Wind 2.75

Spruce Mountain Wind 2.0

Mars Hill Wind 1.5

Record Hill Wind 2.3

Rollins Ridge  ?.?

Which section of your application is sound??   I am weeding through the non descript index of DEP page.now

Anyone working on visuals??

 

Comment by Elizabeth Johns on July 1, 2012 at 10:20am

Thanks, Mike DiCenso, for asking what tone the Passadumkeag Mountain Friends group would prefer. Please be aware that we've been working hard to bring a lot of local stakeholders to the meeting...people who reside, work, recreate, and own property in the area around Passadumkeag Mountain. These are not activists, some are still sorting out what they think, but many are stunned and dismayed that this project could become a reality. They stand to lose the most, and their comments need to be heard. We welcome and truly appreciate the support of our many allies, and just ask that you be respectful and give them the space to comment and be heard.  --Elizabeth Johns 

Comment by Gary Campbell on July 1, 2012 at 10:11am

EVERYONE ought to attend this meeting! At the 6/23 Maine Congress of Lake Association meeting in Waterville, Patty Aho was a speaker. She left time for only one question from the audience. I asked her "Now that DEP will be the sole authority for all wind project permitting, what can we as lake associations do to protect our lakes from having industrial wind complexes on our shores?"

She rolled her eyes and said something like "I get a lot of wind questions but I didn't expect to get any HERE." (Why not, Patty? Do you really think lake associations shouldn't be opposing these projects?) Then she bragged about how she has recently instituted "a very transparent, thoughtful and inclusive public review process". She said that all she asks is that the opponents of a project wait until they see the DEP draft decision before getting involved.


Can you believe that? If you read the announcement of the P'keag project, you'll see that they will release the "draft decision" and will then allow the public one week to prepare its defense. That's what Commissioner Aho believes is a thoughtful and inclusive public review process!

THAT'S WHY WE MUST FILL THE GREENBUSH /P'KEAG MEETING TO OVERFLOWING!

Comment by Long Islander on July 1, 2012 at 8:45am

Governor LePage: "Windmills are doing an awful lot of damage to our quality of life and our mountains".

Comment by Brad Blake on July 1, 2012 at 12:14am

My remarks will be very pointed regarding the mission of DEP and its application of the wind law.   If we do not speak out forcefully regarding the environmental damage we witnessed at Rollins being applied to P'keag Mt., we are not being stewards of the environment and protectors of the mountains.  This is another horrifying chapter in the cumulative impact of wind turbines in the northeastern uplands and lakes region.  It has to stop and we can't be polite and deferential.  Loud and angry without being vulgar works for me!  I will be bringing my signs with me.  I will be there at 6 to greet everyone like this:

Comment by Mike DiCenso on June 30, 2012 at 11:50pm

Should the Passadumkeag group set the tone of this meeting ? Should we be polite and respectful or something more ? Parking lot signage? 

Comment by Brad Blake on June 30, 2012 at 11:26am

I encourage everyone to attend this meeting.  Get there early and demand that we stay late until everyone is heard.  We all have to be defenders of Maine's mountains and wildlife and vaunted "Quality of Place".  Passadumkeag is the highest point between the coast and Mt. Katahdin.  It stands at the eastern gateway to the magnificent Downeast Grand Lakes.  So magnificent that Duck Lake & Nicatous Lake are protected by investments by taxpayers through the Fund for Land for Maine's Future.

Allowing Passsadumkeag Mt. to be destroyed continues the relentless assault on Maine's northeastern uplands.  Please understand there is a plan in place to encircle the Downeast Grand Lakes with turbines and continue northward to the very border of Baxter State Park.  We must take a stand against this at every opportunity.  Please be in Greenbush on July 12, even if you end up standing in the parking lot because we overflow the meeting room.  If that happens, we can demand another "public comment meeting" at a larger venue like in nearby Howland at the high school.

The photo here is from the most southerly of the Rocky Dundee ridges destroyed for the Rollins Wind project in nearby Burlington.  The long ridge in the distance is the victim of this travesty--Passadumkeag Mt.

Comment by freemont tibbetts on June 30, 2012 at 10:53am

Frustration the citizens have with the DEP "Public Comment Meeting" process. Now to the citizens of Dixfield I have printed out a copy off that meeting it was on March 10, 2011, it stated at 6:00 P.M. and ended at 10:00 P.M., it has 169 pages to it.   CERTIFICATE by Court Reporter/Notary Public her commission expires, July, 17, 2015. Now if any citizen in Dixfield would like a copy of this meeting I would be more then happy to let you take my to read or I will print one up for you to have and it will not cost you a red cent. Is this democracy at Dixfield or not ????? and why did they not listen to the people????        Freemont Tibbetts 37, Bruce Tibbetts Dr, Dixfield Maine.  Tel. 207- 562-7168      

Comment by Brad Blake on June 29, 2012 at 11:47pm

In a June 5 meeting with DEP Commissioner Aho, DEP Division of Land Resource Regulation Director Mark Bergeron, DEP Bureau of Land & Water Quality Director Michael Kuhns, and staff member Mark Margerum, they were told in no uncertain terms about the frustration the citizens have with DEP "Public Comment Meeting" process.  I have spoken at 4 of them.  Having 2 of the same type of meeting just doubles the activity of going through the motions of listening to citizens, of taking everything the wind developer says as gospel, and inking the rubber stamp while hiding behind the "Wind Law". 

We pointed out that in the only case where a hearing with expert testimony and cross examination was allowed---LURC hearing on Bowers Mt.---the outcome was a denial.  I specifically stated to them "how can you read the transcript of the Dixfield public meeting where public opposition was so overwhelming and go ahead and approve the Saddleback Wind project less than 8 miles across the valley from Mt. Blue State Park?"  Of course, I got no answer.  We got no answers that day, just stone silence.  Did they listen?  Maybe, as notes were being taken.  Commissioner Aho seemed defensive and stated there is a new tone in the agency.  We'll see in Greenbush on the 12th. 

Photo below is eastern end of Passadumkeag Mt. from Saponic Pond, with radio tower.

Comment by Harrison Roper on June 29, 2012 at 10:50am

According to the on-line Proposal, this is to be called "Passadumkeag Wind Park, LLC" by FERC.  It is to have 42 MW capacity.  If anyone can find where a claim for its expected Capacity Factor is located in the huge Proposal, I'd be glad to know.  Stetson I had a Capacity Factor of .26 for 2011 (full year). 

Harry Roper  Houlton/Danforth   

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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